Powered wood splitters are very useful to ease the burdensome task of splitting large quantities of firewood blocks. Many different forms of powered wood splitters have been developed. Perhaps the most useful design involves a frame-mounted blade and platform arrangement wherein the blade, platform, or both are driven toward and away from one another by action of a hydraulic cylinder. A wood block is placed between the blade and platform and the cylinder is activated to move the blade and platform together relative to one another thereby driving the blade through the wood block.
It is advantageous that the blade and platform be oriented for relative movement in a vertical plane for convenience in loading and operation. Many splitters have therefore been developed with splitting frames that may be selectively moved between horizontal and vertical positions. Most are operable in the horizontal position which also represents a transport position to facilitate transport of the splitter from one location to another. The vertical position is utilized primarily for operation of the splitter to ease positioning of the wood blocks without requiring excessive manual lifting.
Splitters having the ability to pivot the splitting mechanism between horizontal and substantially vertical positions have the advantages indicated above but also include several disadvantages. Firstly, this form of splitter while very functional in operation is typically difficult to store. Such splitters require a large floor space due to the forward projecting towing tongue utilized for transport purposes.
As an attempted solution to the above problem, several splitters have been developed wherein the towing tongue is incorporated directly with the splitter frame. The towing tongue pivots upwardly with the splitting frame to minimize the floor space occupied when the splitter is to be stored. However, integration of the towing tongue and splitter frame results in stability difficulty in operation and handling difficulty when the device is to be moved from the horizontal to vertical orientation. The latter difficulty stems from the wheel support usually provided for this type of splitter. Efforts to elevate the splitter frame from a horizontal to a vertical orientation will typically result in rolling motion of the support wheels away from the lifting force. There is also a potential that the wheels will "kick out" when the frame is to be moved from the vertical to the horizontal orientation.
As an attempted solution to the above problem, splitters have been developed wherein the splitting frame has been pivoted separately from a towing tongue permanently mounted to the frame. The towing tongue provided additional stability by means of a downnwardly positionable foot toward the outward end of the tongue. The difficulty with this arrangement is as indicated above where storage of the unit becomes difficult due to the forward-projecting towing tongue.
Another difficulty realized with portable splitters having pivoted splitting frames is stability in rough terrain. Prior splitters (especially those having integrated splitting frames and towing tongues) become very unstable in uneven terrain. This is due to the lack of positive ground contact by the wheels and the bottom end of the splitter frame. It is not unusual that only two point contact is made where high or low contours are encountered along the ground surface. This results in dangerous instability.
The above problem has been realized to the extent that some manufacturers will provide expensive and relatively complicated bracing arrangements to secure the splitters in their upright operational orientations. While such bracing may effect additional stability, considerable expense is added to the splitter, additional time is consumed in readying the splitter for operation, and additional variables are added to the functioning of the machine which affect its safe operation.
From the above, it may be understood that there remains a need for a portable wood splitter that is stable in operation and in which storage space for the splitter is minimized without compromising stability. There is further need for such a splitter that is simple in construction and that is inexpensive to produce and easy to set up and operate.